HOENIG: ACTING NOW TO CUT DEBT MOST RESPONSIBLE COURSE HOENIG: WLD BE MISTAKE TO DO NOTHING ABOUT MOUNTING DEBT HOENIG: INFLATION IN ARGENTINA WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY INCREASE HOENIG: CAN'T AVOID SHORT-TRM PAIN IN FIXING ECON FUNDAMENTALS HOENIG: IF FISCAL DEBT GOES UNADDRESSED,CURRENCY WEAKENS HOENIG: HIGH PRIVATE DEBT TO CONTRIBUTE POL PRESSURE ON FED HOENIG: FISCAL OUTLOOK ALSO THREAT TO FED INDEPENDENCE HOENIG: US GOVT MUST ADJUST SPENDING, TAX PROGRAMS HOENIG: PRIVATE INDEBTEDNESS ADDS TO ECON PROSPECT CONCERNS HOENIG: DEFICIT OF IMMEDIATE CONCERN;L-TRM OUTLK DISCONCERTING HOENIG: FISCAL OUTLOOK THREAT TO FED PRICE/GROWTH OBJECTIVES HOENIG: US FISCAL POLICY MUST FOCUS ON CUTTING DEBT BUILDUP HOENIG: NEED PRE-EMPTIVE CORRECTIVE FISCAL ACTN TO AVOID CRISIS
A week ago Zero Hedge discussed the spread between the Freddie 1 Year ARM and the 30 Year fixed , concluding that the recent record spread is indicative that the Fed will do all it can to become the new subprime lender of any resort, even if it means creating exponentially more roll risk, as it seeks to lend money regardless of the probability of ultimate payback. Today Bloomberg points out that the Freddie 30 Year has just hit a 4 month high of 5.14%, a level last seen at the end of August. What is notable is that in less than two weeks the 30 Year Freddie Fixed has jumped by 20 bps.
Our friends at GATA have had enough of the Fed's, and other Central Banks' alleged (and with so much circumstantial evidence presented both at Zero Hedge and elsewhere, that in this case "alleged" is just a term only a lawyer could love) manipulation of gold prices, and have taken Bernanke's monetization, manipulation and money making unlimited liability company to task ("M 4 ULLC"). We are overjoyed that yet another entity has followed in the footsteps of our dear late friend Mark Pittman in taking on the one organization that represents all that is irreconcilably broken with the current economic and financial system
Yesterday's most recent data from the Conference Board's Confidence Index recapitulates very well the Economic Inquisition purgatory that living in America has become: pain and suffering now, coupled with the promise of salvation and financial bliss at some point in the future.
Recently there has been much speculation that the US government will do anything, anything, to rekindle the housing bubble. Even if that means providing Option ARMs at blue light special prices and hiring Angelo Mozillo as Mortgage Czar (we hope we are kidding about the latter). Yes, those very same Option ARMs which banks' balance sheets are still expecting to be neutron bombed by, courtesy of the long gone days when there was private sector mortgage origination risk
Vote passes 16 to 7. Jeff Merkley breaks ranks with the Majority and deserves the praise of those 79% who believe Bernanke should be fired. We will shortly analyze why Senator Corker's real estate interests may have been quite a conflict of interest in his vote
In October, foreigners purchased $43.4 billion of domestic securities , a decline of $12 billion from the month before.
The only real action after the FOMC statement so far has been on the long-end of the curve both in USTs and mortgages.
One of the things that spooked the market yesterday was not so much any concerns of tightening language in today's FOMC statement, as much as a rumor that the Fed was planning on bumping up the discount rate. Krishna Guha, in a blog post, wondered , "might the Fed raise the discount rate at this week’s policy meeting
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
0 Comments